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As Christmas and New Year in the UK passed without a Gambling Act review update, some politicians are still publicly trying to influence the contents of the long-awaited white paper.
Various stakeholders in the industry assumed the white paper would be released during the holiday period, as the process continues to be delayed due to its complex nature and recent political upheaval.
However, this has not deterred the likes of Labour Party MP John Spellar from writing a blog in association with trade group the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) for the parliamentary news site PoliticsHome this week.
In the article, Spellar calls for the safeguarding of what he refers to as a “£7.1bn Great British success story”.
“We cannot have this uncertainty for such a large and successful industry going forward. That is why the government need to get on with publishing the Gambling White Paper, providing protections where they are needed but must not put at risk yet another British industry,” Spellar concludes.
He also praised gambling’s financial contribution to the horseracing industry and sponsorship payments, which he estimates to be “at least £40m a year to the English Football League and its clubs, more than £10m to darts and snooker and over £2.5m for rugby league”.
Spellar’s blog is a sign that at least some politicians still believe there is time to exert influence on the white paper.
On the other side of the debate, fellow Labour Party MP Carolyn Harris, who is also the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling Related Harm (APPG), has continued to push for more restrictions on the gambling industry.
Most recently, Harris said on social media on January 1 that the UK needs to “look at how we can make the industry accountable for money laundering. Addiction drives crime. Industry profits from it.”
Her comments were in response to an article published by the Guardian about police forces becoming increasingly aware that high-stakes betting is a form of addiction and a driver of crime similar to alcohol or drugs.
However, changes are occurring elsewhere in the UK as many wait impatiently for the white paper release.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland recently began addressing concerns associated with gambling harms.
Organisations such as “The Big Step” campaign, run by the charity Gambling With Lives, have also continued to pressure sports clubs to end their partnerships with gambling firms.
At the start of 2023, the campaign sent a letter to 166 football clubs to gain further support to end gambling sponsorship.
Despite Paul Scully MP, parliamentary undersecretary of state at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), promising the white paper will be “out of the door soon” at an event in December 2022, stakeholders in the UK still await any kind of concrete update.
